10-26-2012

Sara’s Fashion Inspired Senior Session: Grinnell High School

Grinnell Senior Photographer + Sessions

I’m excited to feature yet another amazing senior from Grinnell High School, the ever so stylish Sara!  When she first contacted me, the one thing she said that I’ll never forget was, “I care a lot about fashion!”   I was giddy with excitement, and I hadn’t even met her yet:)

Sara chose the couture session, which includes professional hair & make-up styling.  I loved the dramatic plum eye make up she chose!  Doesn’t she look gorgeous?  Many thanks to Megan Cooper for her amazing work on her look!

Now, onto the photos!  This first one on the left?  Very. First. Shot.   I about gasped when I saw it on the back of my camera, and knew we’d have an AMAZING session!

Her prom dress was so perfect for this location and the vintage chair I brought along!  When I asked her where she found it, of course she replies quite simply, “London!”

We changed locations and headed to downtown Grinnell for a bit more of an “urban” look.  Thanks to Flowers on Fourth for letting us borrow their chair:)

We mixed it up a bit and added a headband, and I think she rocked it!

And just for fun, a few outtakes:-)

I also have to thank my friend Aly, who came along for this session and grabbed some behind the scenes photos.  I’m still working on putting those all together, as well as a video for seniors who want to see what a session with me is like.  All in good time!

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Hannah Mae Whitney - Absolutely gorgeous, Sara! You are so photogenic!

10-24-2012

Heather’s Lux Session in Newton

Grinnell Senior Photographer + Sessions

I’ve been blessed with some WONDERFUL high school seniors to work with this year, and Heather is yet another one!  She contacted me back in August with some great ideas, like heading up to Ames to the arboretum for some gorgeous photos featuring the photos.  After talking through all of the possibilities, we decided to stay closer and headed to Krumm nature preserve, the gardens in Newton, and then in downtown Newton.  I love the mix of styles we got for her couture session, and I may have said a million times how jealous I am of her hair – I love it!

After an outfit change, we headed into downtown Newton and found some great new locations!

Heather brought along her homecoming dress – isn’t it gorgeous!?!  And I think she just looks radiant in it:)

Thanks for a wonderful time, and I hope you have a truly amazing senior year, Heather!

 

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10-22-2012

Senior Premium Album

Albums + Albums & Books + Boutique + For Clients + Grinnell Senior Photographer

You may remember about a month ago I shared about my new wedding albums.  And that I made a little promise that I’d share some photos of the new senior album the next week.  And then…I got busy!  Whoops.  But the time has finally come, and I’m so excited to share some sample photos of this gorgeous album!

I was so excited to find Red Tree Albums as my album company.  They have stunning craftsmanship that is unsurpassed in my opinion.  Plus, the cover material choices are absolutely gorgeous!  I am a huge fan of real silk, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have this senior sample in beautiful aqua Japanese silk.

Just like the wedding album, the senior album has the same vibrant prints affixed to a full spread thick page, so it lays flat when you open the album.  It’s a true book binding that will last.

You can have your name imprinted on the cover in a few different fonts, as well as a photo cameo.  This is a great way to personalize your album!

Seniors and their parents often ask me what the most popular item is that I sell.  Without a doubt, it’s definitely my digital collection and assorted gift prints.  But my favorite item that I sell is the album.  Why?  Because it’s very high quality, you get a lot of photos laid out in a custom design, and it’s something that will last your entire life.  For families with multiple children or limited wall space, the first thing I recommend is an album!

When Hannah saw herself on the sample album, she actually got one too!  Hers will be a little bit different, but just as beautiful.  I’m so excited to hand off such a gorgeous heirloom quality product to my clients.

A peak at the sample leather and silks available for the senior album.

If you haven’t seen a sample yet, let me know!  It’s even better in person:)

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10-18-2012

William’s Session

Grinnell Senior Photographer + Sessions

William was the first guy for the class of 2013 I photographed this year, and I had so much fun laughing with him during his photo shoot!  For all of those people wondering, YES, I do photograph guys as well as the ladies.  It just so happens that the majority of seniors I work with happen to be girls.

Here’s a few from William’s signature session!

When he said he brought a sword, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect…but seriously, that was a COOL sword!

grinnell senior letterman

I hope you have an awesome senior year!!!

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10-16-2012

Emily & David: Country Hills Golf Course Wedding

Des Moines Wedding Photographer + For Brides + Weddings

At long last, photos from Emily & David’s wedding!   I know they’ve been waiting patiently:)

Emily & David exchanged vows in front of their friends and family in northeast Iowa, waaaaaaaaaaaay up in West Union.  When I drove in for their wedding, I giggled when I saw the old-fashioned drive-up burger joint.  That’s just classic small town Iowa for you:) We started at Country Hills Golf Course, where Emily & David got all dolled up.

Thanks to the ever so talented Robyn for capturing this photo of David – she was my fabulous second shooter for the day.  Couldn’t have done it without her!

I absolutely love when couples decide to do a first look, and theirs was especially memorable.  Each of them had written a brief letter to the other to read – so sweet!

I love this shot Robyn snagged from the side while we were doing bridal party formals.

My view on the left, Robyn’s on the right.

Gorgeous!

In lieu of cake, Emily & David had a candy bar, as well as an ice cream sundae bar.  You may know by now that I have an incredible fondness for just about every dessert there is, but when you combine that with my pregnancy-induced sweet tooth, this type of situation was hard to resist!

Their super fun photo booth!

Congrats, you two!

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Emily Counts - Wow! Thank you for all the great photos, Jennifer (and Robyn). They look awesome!

Robyn Schwab - Looks great, Jennifer Weinman! What a fun couple. I was so glad to help.

10-16-2012

Revamped Packaging!

Business + For Photographers

One of my goals for this year when I refocused my branding (which included a fun redesign!) was to retune my packaging so that everything would be cohesive.  I had a lot of different directions I thought of going, and at times, I was even a bit overwhelmed by the number of possibilities!  But in the end, I decided to go with something simple, modern, but not TOO modern, and a little bit fun.  And now that I’ve completely redone my packaging, I have so much fun wrapping everything up and delivering it to clients.  It sort of feels like I get to play Santa on Christmas morning!

Here it is!

I found fun striped silver tissue paper online at a wrapping supply store, and the same for the glossy white Euro tote shopping bags.  Stickers are designed with my logo and are printed at Zazzle, and the white photo boxes are from HB Photo Packaging.

Each client’s order is different, so I get to experiment with packaging a little bit each time.  For this particular order, Brandi had chosen a package that included accordion mini books, so I wrapped them up in the tissue paper and tied it off with some grey and white baker’s twine I found on Etsy.

I also revamped all of my printed materials, including my thank you cards, photo print release that I include whenever someone purchases my digital collection, as well as a couple of other information cards that seniors receive when they book their session and I mail them a welcome packet (I’ll show you that soon!)

I’m in love with how everything turned out!

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Teri Hodge - We loved how you packaged everything! We hated opening them up.

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